Seal-lock



(Model.) 2 sheets-sheet 1.

% SAVAIENAH' NASHVILLE J Attorney N. PETERS, Pima-Limogqpmr, wnmngmn. D. C.

2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

(Model.)

I. C. PLANT.

SEAL 1.00K.

No. 364,954. Patented June 14, 1887.

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N. PETERS. PlwxvLilhogr-.lphen washington. D. c.

UNITED STATES PATENT Friet.,

INCREASE O. PLANT, OF MACON, GEORGIA.

SEAL-LOCK.

` SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 364,954, dated Jl'une 14, 1887.

.Application filed March 11, 1837. Serial No. 230,020. (Model.)

To @ZZ whom t may concern,.-

Be it known that l, INoREAsE C. PLANT, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Macon, in the county of Bibb and State of Georgia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Seal-Locks; and I do hereby declare that the i'ollowi ng is a full,clear, and exact description of the invention, which will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, refererence being had to the accompanying` drawings, which form a part of this specitication, and in which Figure I is a front view of a portion of the side and door of a freight-car provided with my improved seal-lock. Fig. 2 is a similar view ot' the lock,showing the door of the lockcasing opened, disclosing the tag. Fig. 3 is a transverse vertical sectional view of the lock on line fr x, Fig. 1; and Fig. 4 is a view of the tag as I prefer to use it.

Similar numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the iigures.

My invention has relation to thatclass of seal-locks for freightvcars or similar purposes in which a tag is inclosed in the loclecasing and will be torn and destroyed by the withdrawal ofthe locking-bolt,whieh is held within the lock-casing, and it contemplates certain improvements upon the seal-lock for which Letters Patent No. 350,885 were granted to Jesse Jordan and myself on the 12th day of October, 1886; and it consists to that end in the improved construction and combination of parts of such a lock, as hereinafter more fully described and claimed.

It is desirable to have a tag attached to a freightcar,whieh may be suitably marked by theseveral conductors having the carin charge during its trip, indicating the time of receipt ot' the ear and the time of its delivery, and to that end I employ T-shaped tags of nearly the same shape as the tag used in the former lock, but provided with a long strip or tab projecting downward through the vertical longitudinal slot in the bolt and through a slot in the bottom of the lock-casing, the end of this tab or strip projecting down from the lock-cas ing and having inscribed upon it either the names of the several stations and blanks for dates, or having the figures indicating the dates of the months and suitable spaces for the conductor to either punch or otherwise mark thestrip with an individual mark which may not be mistaken, so that the tag will not only serve as a seal, but at the saine time as a ticket, which will register the progress of the ear, the tag enabling the railway company or the consigner or consignee to locate under whose charge the ear inight have been when any accident or injury happened to it, as the mark of the conductor will serve as a receipt for the intact condition ofthe ear, so that the accident or injury may be traced to the last conductor having marked the tag and receipted for it. It desired, two shorter tags may be used, one to go under each opening in the lock, to show their contents under the glass over them, the lower one to be used with or without glass, as preferred, but protected by a si1nilar tlap to the one above it on the lock. It is also desirable to have a receptacle for a bill of lading7 duplicate tags, or other papers from the consigner to the consignee, and for that purpose I l'orm a recess in the back ot the casing, in which the said paper may be placed behind the upper end of the tag, the said paper being, ofcourse, inaccessible until the tag has been broken and the door of the lock-casing opened, which may not take place until the door of the car has been opened.

In the accompanying drawings, the numeral l indicates the lock-casing, having the door 2, provided with the glazed aperture 3, formed with the hinged flap 4L, and provided with the serrated flange 5 upon the inner side and the pivotcd gravitating latch 6. The recess 7 in the lock-casing, in which the head or enlarged portion of the tag rests, is deepened to a sufiicient depth to hold the bill of lading or other paper sent with the car, and the bolt 8 is provided with the recess 9 in its upper side and with the vertical longitudinal slot I0, and with the notch 1l, into which the gravitating catch 12 catches. The lower side of theloelecasing is provided with a longitudinal slot,13, which registers with the slot in the sliding bolt when the latter is pushed home. The other paris ofthe lock need no further explanatiomas they, as well as the most of the parts already re- ICO ferred to, are of the same construction as the parts shown and described in the patent hereinbefore referred to.

The tag 14 consists of the head 15, which lits in the recess at the upper end of the T- shaped recess in the casing, and the strip or tab 16,which, projecting from the lower edge of the head, extends through the slot in the bolt and through the slot inthe lock-casing, depending from said casing. This strip has inscribed upon it the names of the several stations of the road over which the car passes, arranged in columns, and having opposite columns of figures indicating the dates of the month, the said figures being added by the conductors during the trip, together with the individual punch orl mark of the conductor, or the tab may have any other suitable series of blanks or inscriptions, which may be filled out or punched or marked, indicating that the conductor has received the car in good condition. The head of the tag is inscribed with the names of the sending-station and of the receiving-station, as well as with the names of the consigner, consignee, and any other information which it may be desired to give. The

' Without opening the door, the extension protecting the tab from the effect of the weather and keeping it clean and Whole, preventing the marks or inscriptions upon the same from being blurred or covered with dirt and preventing it from being torn off. The bill of lading 20, or any other paperwhich it may be desired to send along with the'car, is placed in the recess behind the head of the tag, and

neither the tag nor the paper can be touched after the door has been locked, the tag i'nserted, and the lock-casing -closed without the fact being betrayed by the condition of the tag.

Having thus described my invention, I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United StatesA 1. In a seal-lock,.the combination, with a lock-casing having a T-shaped-recess, and having a vertical'slot in its lower side, forming a continuation of the foot or shank of the T- shaped recess, and having a bolt sliding in the recess, formed witha vertical longitudinal slot registering withthe slot in the casing, of a tag formed in T shape and iitting and projecting through the slot of the bolt and through the slot in the lower side of the lock4v easing, as and for the purpose shown and set forth. i

2. In a seal lock, the combination of a lock-casing having a T-shap'ed recess, the lower side of which easing is slotted and provided with an extended casing, a door upon said casing and said extended casing, aslotted bolt within said recess, and aT-shaped tag the head of which is adapted to be held in said recess and its tab adapted to be secured in said extended casing.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereunto aiiixed my signature in presence of twowitnesses.

INCREASE C. PLANT.

W'itnesses:

JNO'. H. INGRAHAM, WV. W. WRIGLEY.

55 in the recess 

